The Mermaid from Jeju

De: Sumi Hahn

Narrado por: Cindy Kay, Raymond J. Lee

A Popsugar Best Book of December 2020
An Amazon Editors Pick December 2020

In the aftermath of World War II, Goh Junja is a girl just coming into her own. She is the latest successful deep-sea diver in a family of strong haenyeo. Confident she is a woman now, she urges her mother to allow her to make their annual trip to Mt. Halla, where they trade sea delicacies for pork. A sea-village girl, Junja has never been to the mountains, where it smells like mushrooms and earth, and it is there she falls in love with mountain-boy Yang Suwol, who rescues her after a particularly harrowing journey. But when Junja returns one day later, it is just in time to see her mother take her last breath, beaten by the waves during a dive she was taking in Junja's place.

Spiraling in grief, Junja sees her younger siblings sent to live with their estranged father, Suwol gone, and the ghost of her mother haunting their home - from the meticulously tended herb garden that has begun sprouting weeds to the field where their bed sheets are beaten. She has only her grandmother and herself. But the world moves on without Junja.

The political climate is perilous. Still reeling from Japan's forced withdrawal from the peninsula, Korea is forced to accommodate the rapid establishment of US troops, and Junja’s grandmother, who lived through the Japanese invasion that led to Korea's occupation, understands the signs of danger all too well. When Suwol is arrested for working with and harboring communists, Junja must learn to navigate a tumultuous world unlike anything she's ever known.

©2020 Sumi Hahn (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Audible Was So Good That I Had To Get The Book

I enjoyed the detail of the history of Jeju Island and its cultural background. The descriptive details were able to give me a graphic illustration in my mind's eye. Which lead me to nonstop listening. I enjoyed "The Mermaid from Jeju" audible book, and now I have to order the actual book. 👍📘 Thank you, Sumi Hahn (감사합니다, 한수미 씨)

Beautifully written!

I couldn't stop listening! The descriptive details were able to paint a visual that I can see! Love the storyline and the narrative at the end!

Truly disappointed in the performance

I love Audible. But the performance by Raymond Lee was terrible. There was nothing fluid about it as though he was reading it, himself, for the first time. I should have ordered the physical book and read this one myself as the performance was horribly distracting. So much so that I barely was able to finish listening.

Ending was weird

I liked it, but not as much as I was expecting. It started off strong, but the weaving together at the end was forced. I didn’t follow all of the characters’ motivations. But enjoyable. Not as much at all about the haenyeo as I would have thought based on the title. I much preferred the Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. But this one was pretty good too.

Disappointed and disconnected story

Story started off interesting and fast paced. I was really invested in learning more about Grandma and Captain Lee, but in the end, was disappointed in the direction of the book. I don’t think the switch in story was necessary. And I was also disappointed in the ending. Felt very anticlimactic and abrupt.